An Unplanned Life (Unplanned Series) (25 page)

Chapter 57

Nicole

I awoke the next morning to Dailan’s lips on my forehead. He had just gotten out of the shower and had nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. I opened my eyes and smiled at the sight of him. “Good morning,” I said.

“Hey, go back to sleep. You just looked so cute sleeping that I couldn’t resist kissing you.
”

I sat up and wrapped my arms around his neck. “What time do you have to be at work?” I asked. He looked over at the clock. “Forty
-five minutes.”

I smiled. “Well, we can do a lot in that little bit of time.”

He smiled back and pushed me down on the bed. “Wait, wait, wait!” I said as jumped out of bed.

“What’s the matter?”

I covered my mouth with my hand. “Morning breath,” I said. He laughed and shook his head. I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth. I walked out and lifted my nightshirt over my head. “Okay, now where were we?”

“I believe we were right here.” He pulled me down on the bed and hovered over top of me, trailing kisses down my neck to my breasts. I began to giggle from the touch of his tickling lips.

“You are so fuckin’ beautiful, you know that?” he whispered as his lips grazed my ear. My insides began to tingle. It amazed me how he still had this effect on me.

“And you are so fuckin’ handsome,” I giggled, mocking him in my best Irish accent.

He tickled me and I began to laugh harder. “Are you making fun of me?”

I tried to catch my breath to speak. “Yup, I am. What are you going to do about it?”

“Don’t tempt me.” He smiled and quickly removed my underwear. He slipped his finger inside of me and the look on his face became more serious. He kissed me hard while his fingers continued their pleasurable assault on my body. Everything inside of me was yearning for him. It was partly due to his actions and partly due to the look of longing in his eyes. I gently pushed him off me, taking him a little off guard. “What are you doing?” he asked.

I placed my fingers over his lips, signaling for him to be quiet. I grabbed a ponytail holder off my nightstand and pulled my hair back. He smiled, knowing exactly what he was in for. My
fingernail tickled the hair on his thigh while my tongue circled his nipple. My fingers slowly swept across his erection. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. I lightly grazed his ear with my teeth. “Are you ready for this, Mr. O’Maley?” I whispered in his ear.

“Fuck, yeah,” he responded.

I trailed kisses down his stomach and took him in my mouth. I heard a deep moan escape his throat. I looked up at him and smiled. “Are you liking this?”

He took a deep breath and nodded.

I loved knowing that I turned him on this much. I continued with my torturous tease until he was almost there. He quickly pulled me up to him. He stood up and buried himself inside of me. I let out a loud cry of pleasure. I pulled him closer and kissed his neck. He pulled out my ponytail holder and ran his fingers through my hair. He continued to move as my hips rose to meet him. “Don’t stop, Dailan. Please, don’t ever stop.”

  He looked down at me and smiled. “Well, since you said
‘please.’” He began to move quicker and my screams became louder.

I couldn’t hold back any longer
; my body was on overload. I gently dug my fingernails into his back as I screamed his name at the same exact time that he buried his face into my neck, letting out a light groan.

He lay on top of me while we both caught our breath. I traced my fingers up and down his back. “I love you,” he whispered in my ear while gently kissing me on the cheek.

“I love you too.” I could feel myself smiling on the inside and outside. “I’ve got a good idea; why don’t you call out today and we can spend the rest of the morning in bed.”

“Believe me, there’s nothing I would love more than that. But I’ve got meetings all day.” He lifted his head and looked at the clock. “One of which is about to start in twenty minutes.”

“B-o-o-o,” I said as he kissed me on the cheek and climbed out of bed. I got out of bed and stood behind him. I wrapped my arms around him and trailed kisses down his bare back. “I’ll go make you some coffee.”

“Good girl,” he said while playfully smacking me on the butt. I threw on my underwear and nightshirt and headed downstairs. I shook my head and laughed when I saw Dailan’s phone still on the step from last night.
No wonder why he is always misplacing it.
I picked it up and carried into the kitchen. I thought about what happened last night with Jonathan and how he wasn’t letting this whole custody thing go. I stood and watched the coffee brew when an idea struck me. I went through Dailan’s phone and wrote down the number that Jonathan had called from last night. I quickly put his phone down and poured him a cup of coffee when I heard him coming down the steps.

“It was so nice waking up with you this morning. Don’t ever leave me again, or we will have some serious problems,” I joked while I handed him a cup of coffee.

“I gotta get going.” He took one sip and put the cup down on the counter. “I’m running late, but you were so worth it,” he said, kissing me softly on the lips. “Call me as soon as you’re done at the doctor’s.”

“I will.” I
sneaked another kiss in before he walked out the door. I finished drinking the rest of Dailan’s coffee and stared at the piece of paper with Jonathan’s phone number written on it. I took a deep breath. I needed to do this if I wanted the problems to stop. I needed to do this to have peace of mind and, most of all, I needed to do this for Ryan. My hands were shaking as I dialed the number.
You can do this, you can do this,
I said to myself as I waited for him to answer.

“Hello
.” My stomach dropped at the sound of his voice.

I began to fidget
nervously with the papers on the kitchen counter. “Jonathan, it’s Nicole.”

“Nicole?” He sounded surprised.

“Yes. I need to talk to you.”

“Okay, when?” I was surprised that he was being so accommodating.

“I can meet you in an hour at the coffee shop that we met at last time.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then.”

I called up Jack and asked if he would mind keeping the kids while I ran a few “errands” this morning. He was more than happy to do so. I showered and dressed and was on my way. I took a deep breath as I placed my hand on the door of the coffee shop. My knees began to wobble when I saw Jonathan sitting at one of the far off tables, waiting for me. I took the empty seat across from him, trying to be as cordial as possible. I ordered a coffee even though I didn’t want to. I just wanted to do what I needed to do and leave. His stare was making me feel very uncomfortable. I wasn’t quite sure if it was because we had a history together or because he was the one person who had changed my life forever. I nervously began to fold the napkin on the table into its smallest form possible.

“So, what did you need to talk to me about, Nicole?” Jonathan asked
, looking calm and focused.

I took a deep breath and reached into my purse, pulling out the pictures that I gathered up before coming. The first was a picture of Ryan when he was two years old with Dailan’s brother and sister
-in-law. “This is Ryan. He has a name. He isn’t an ‘it’ or a material possession. He’s a little boy with a big heart. He has two little perfectly placed dimples, loves baseball, and snorts when he laughs too hard. He was two years old in this picture with his mother and father.” Jonathan looked at me strangely, like he didn’t understand. “Ryan’s adopted parents,” I clarified.

“I don’t get it,” Jonathan said.

“I put Ryan up for adoption.”

“Yeah, I know
, but I thought that you had changed your mind and somehow got him back. You didn’t?”

I shook my head. “No, three years ago
, I started teaching second grade.” I looked out the window and smiled, thinking back to when I had first met Ryan and Dailan. I turned my attention back to Jonathan and continued. “One of my students was the cutest little boy with a bit of cursing problem, a little mischievous side, but most of all, a little lost soul. Both his mom and dad died in a car accident a few months prior.” Jonathan’s eyes widened and I wasn’t sure, but I thought I saw a little empathy when I looked into them. “The whole school year, I grew closer and closer to him each day, feeling as if I
needed
to be there for him and I didn’t know why. Well, I needed to be there for him because he was my baby. I was given a second chance with my child.” Jonathan was speechless as if he were in shock.

I pulled out another picture of Dailan and Ryan.
“This is Ryan’s uncle, my husband. I got to know him throughout the course of that year that I was teaching Ryan. When I first met him, I thought he had no business raising a child, but then, as I got to know him and spent time with him and Ryan, I realized how much he loved that little boy. Ryan loves him with all his heart and thinks of him as a dad. And Dailan, well, Dailan would die for Ryan.” Jonathan looked away as if he didn’t want to hear anymore. But I wasn’t done. I took out one last picture, the one of Ryan and me taken on my wedding day. “And this is me and my little boy on one of the happiest days of my life. Jonathan, I told you a long time ago that I hoped one day you would be a man and do the right thing. Well, now is your chance to do it. Ryan is a little boy who has been through so much and he’s come through it fairly unscathed. Please don’t do this for your own personal gain. Think of the face in those pictures. Please be the man for him now that you couldn’t be back then.”

He looked down at the table and didn’t respond. I wasn’t sure if I had gotten through to him or not. There was nothing more that I could do
; it was now up to him. I took Ryan’s baseball picture out of my wallet and slid it across the table. “Here, this all I’m willing to give you of him.” He picked it up and stared intently at it. “He was the best mistake that I ever made, Jonathan.” I stood up and pushed in my chair. He was silent, finally removing his eyes from the picture and staring into my eyes. I finally looked away and walked out the door. I sat in my car and cried. I wasn’t sure if it was the old memories that seeing Jonathan stirred up inside of me or because I was scared – scared for Ryan and the turmoil his life would be thrown into if Jonathan continued to pursue this.

Chapter 58

Dailan

I broke my concentration from Mr. Allan’s relentless banter when I saw that Nicole was trying to call me. I briefly excused myself from the meeting and exited the conference room.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just stuck waiting. The doctor is running way behind and I’m afraid I won’t be out of here to get Ryan from football practice. Do you think there’s any way that you could possibly pick him up?”

I looked at my watch. Ryan needed to be picked up in a half hour and the way this meeting was
going, there was no way in hell that it was going to be over with by then. But I knew I couldn’t let Nicole down; we were finally back in a good place and I had to prove to her that Ryan and Ella were my first priority.

“Yeah, I can get him.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“O’Maley, we need you in here now!” Mr. Allan screamed from the conference room just as I hung up the phone.

Fuck! How the hell was I going to get out of this meeting in a half hour?
“Oh, boy. He is in a mood today!” Debbie said, referring to Mr. Allan as she walked out of the conference room.

“Debbie, would you be able to do me a huge favor?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Can you go pick up Ryan from the rec field right up the street in a half hour and just bring him back here
?”

“Sure, no problem.”

“Thanks.” I walked back into the conference room, feeling much like I was walking back into hell.

Paul and I continued to give Mr. Allan a briefing on the case for what seemed like forever, answering the same questions that he would ask over and over again. There was a light knock on the door. Mr. Allan looked annoyed by the interruption as Debbie poked her head in. “Excuse
me, Dailan, can I see you for a moment?” Mr. Allan looked at Debbie and then at me, and he didn’t look pleased.

“Can it wait, Debbie?” I asked.

She had a look of worry on her face and she shook her head. “Excuse me for just a minute,” I said. Mr. Allan sighed deeply and rolled his eyes.

“What’s up?” I asked as I stepped outside of the conference room.

“Did you tell Rachel to pick up Ryan instead of me?”

“No, why?”

“I ran to the ladies’ room just before I was going to go pick him up. When I came back, Tina said that Rachel told her she was going to get him and I didn’t have to anymore because you had asked her instead. She must have overheard our conversation earlier when you asked me to pick him up. I thought it was strange that you would have asked her, especially after you laid into her about that spreadsheet this morning; that’s why I just had to interrupt and let you know.”

I quickly pulled out my phone and dialed Rachel’s number. She picked up on the third ring. “Rachel, you need to get back here now with Ryan. I never told you to pick him up.”

“You know what? I’m never coming back. My life is worthless, empty, and miserable. Jonathan doesn’t want me anymore. So now everyone – you, Nicole, and even Jonathan are going to see how it feels to feel so miserable and alone. Nicole took Jonathan away from me before and now she did it again. Well, now I’m going to take away something of hers.” She hung up the phone before I could even say anything else. The tone in her voice sounded different than usual; she sounded desperate.

I hit redial and this time she didn’t answer. “Fuck!” I shouted
, causing Mr. Allan to come from the conference room to see what was going on. I ran into my office, grabbed my car keys, and ran out the door. “O’Maley, where the hell are you –” I completely ignored Mr. Allan. My only concern was Ryan.

I floored it out of the parking lot, not knowing where to begin to look for Rachel. I tried dialing her number again and still no answer. I looked down at my ringing phone
, hoping that it was Rachel calling me back, but it wasn’t; instead, it was Nicole. I tried to answer as calmly as possible. I didn’t want her to start panicking.

“Hey,
I’m done. Did you need me to come and get Ryan from your work, before I get Ella from –”

I cut her off midsentence. I couldn’t keep it from her any longer. Ryan was her son and she deserved to know. She was right all along about Rachel. I just wished that I had taken her more seriously.

“Nicole –”

“Dailan, what’s wrong?” she asked
, immediately picking up on the worry in my voice.

“Rachel has Ryan and I’m trying to find out where she’s at
.”

“What? Why the hell does Rachel have Ryan?”

“I was stuck in a meeting and I asked Debbie to get him. Rachel must have overheard and went and picked him up. Now she won’t answer her phone.” I decided to leave out the brief conversation that I had with her. I knew just hearing this much was going to throw Nicole over the edge.

“Oh my God!
Dailan, where is she?”

“I don’t know
. That’s what I’m trying to figure out!”

“This is
all your fault! If something happens to him, I will never forgive you. I asked
you
to pick him up, Dailan, not Debbie! But once again, your job took priority.”

“Nicole, I’m gonna find –”

She hung up the phone before I could even finish. She was right; this was all my fault, and if something were to happen to Ryan, there was no way in hell that I would ever be able to live with myself.